Charred Cabbage with Brown Butter and Capers

Name: Charred Cabbage with Brown Butter and Capers
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 hispi (sweetheart) cabbage, quartered lengthways through the root; Neutral oil, for the pan; 80g unsalted butter; 2 tbsp capers, drained and patted dry; Zest and juice of 1 lemon; Flaky sea salt and black pepper

Thick wedges of hispi cabbage seared hard until blackened at the edges, then drowned in nutty brown butter with capers and lemon.

By Rishi Tank · 24 July 2026

Charred wedges of hispi cabbage on a plate, glossy with brown butter and scattered capers

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 25 mins
Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients

0 of 6 ticked

Servings

MetricUS cups

1 hispi (sweetheart) cabbage, quartered lengthways through the root
neutral oil, for the pan
80g unsalted butter
2 tbsp capers, drained and patted dry
1 lemon, zest and juice
flaky sea salt and black pepper

Method

5 steps

Get a heavy frying pan properly hot over high heat with a thin film of neutral oil. It should be just short of smoking.
Lay the cabbage wedges cut-side down and then leave them completely alone. Resist moving them. You want a genuinely blackened surface, not a pale tan one.
Timer: 5 minutes
5 minutes remaining
Turn onto the second cut side and repeat. Season, add a splash of water, cover and steam until a knife slides into the thickest part with no resistance.
Timer: 7 minutes
7 minutes remaining
Move the cabbage to a warm plate. Wipe the pan, drop in the butter and melt it over medium heat, swirling, until the milk solids turn hazelnut brown and it smells nutty.
Timer: 2 minutes
2 minutes remaining
Add the capers — they will spit — then take the pan off the heat and add the lemon juice. Pour the lot over the cabbage and finish with lemon zest and flaky salt.

Equipment

Heavy cast-iron or steel frying pan

Notes from testing

Cabbage is treated as an afterthought far too often. Cut thick, seared properly and left alone in the pan long enough to genuinely char, it turns sweet and meaty. The brown butter takes ninety seconds and does most of the heavy lifting.

Nutrition

Estimated, per serving

Estimated nutrition information per serving
Energy	421 kcal
Fat	35.8 g
of which saturates	21.4 g
Carbohydrate	16.2 g
of which sugars	9.7 g
Fibre	6.8 g
Protein	5.1 g
Sodium	742 mg

Nutrition is an automated estimate calculated from USDA FoodData Central and UK CoFID data. It is not a substitute for professional dietary advice and should not be relied on for medical purposes. Source: UK CoFID.